Two walks of around 1.5 hours each on Saturday and Sunday mornings to the Cartridge Hill area and back. Extremely windy albeit dry. Not a great deal about.

The odd Red Grouse and a handful of Meadow Pipit yesterday against a cracking Raven today. Had a walk past Sunnyhurst Hey Res plantation this evening at dusk looking for Woodock and one obliged flying down towards Sunnyhurst Woods.

Home - Aggie's Staircase - Cartridge Hill - John Smith's Farm - Stepback - Home. Cold & Sunny. Out 8.50 to 10.30. Amongst other stuff :-

Red Grouse (5)
Snipe (1)
Brambling (6)
Lapwing (1)
Nuthatch (1)
Jackdaw (2)

Over last few days - Tawny Owl calling from Sunnyhurst Hey Res plantation, Cormorant (4) on Earnsdale Res and a mixed flock of Starling/Fieldfare (75) at Wenshead.

Home - Tower - Lions Den - Stepback - Home

Wet, cold and windy. Been off the radar for 6 months with back problems, hence no trecks over the moors and no reports.

Very quiet today and nothing of note other than half a dozen Red Grouse.

I'll try better next time!

Home - Lions Den - Conyries Plantation - Roddlesworth - John Smith's Farm - Higher Wenshead Farm - Home. Out 2.5 hours, suuny, windy.

An almost identical cast to last week, amongst others :-

Meadow Pipit
Skylark
Red Grouse (4)
Lapwing
Curlew (6)
Stonechat (1m)
Wheatear (5)
Lesser Redpoll
Linnet
Reed Bunting
Willow Warbler
Blackcap (2)
Whitethroat (2)
Grasshopper Warbler (2)
Swallow

Another Grasshopper Warbler site at the top end of Conyries Plantation is number seven of spring. The male Stonechat still about at the bottom end of the Plantation.

Walks over the moors, this morning for two and a half hours plus yesterday, amongst other stuff :-

Red Grouse (6)
Skylark (5)
Meadow Pipit
Lapwing
Curlew
Wheatear (2)
Willow Warbler
Chiffchaff
Blackcap (2)
Whitethroat (1)
Grasshopper Warbler (2)
Kestrel (1)
Lesser Redpoll
Linnet

Wheatear numbers went through the 100 mark last weekend and I've now stopped counting. Talking to other local birders, the Ring Ouzel count is around 8 birds although none seemed to have lingered.

Several more Wheatear through since 2nd April bringing the total now to 37, mainly around Higher Wenshead Farm, also the field inbetween the farm and Higher Sunnyhurst Res and the field on the left going up to the tower.

Ring Ouzel called twice this morning, a third of the way up the diagonal path above Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir. Went up but couldn't locate.

Female Ring Ouzel sighted mid day in field immediately north of Earnsdale Reservoir. Info thanks to David Pack. Had a 30 minute mooch at the spot this evening without success. Suspect the bird moved on through with the improvement in the weather early afternoon.

To Cartridge Hill and back this morning. Out for three hours. Similar birds seen to those yesterday with the addition of a pair of Little Owl in the Wenshead area. Wheatear (2m) again in field to west of Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir, possibly yesterday's birds.

Similar walk to yesterday without taking in Cartridge Hill. Strangely no Red Grouse. Had Skylark in two different areas. Raven (1) above Stepback, Curlew and Lapwing in the Wenshead area, Lapwing again above Sniddle Hill Farm, a few more Meadow Pipits appearing now, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch, Nuthatch and Lesser Redpoll amongst others.

Aggie's Staircase - Cartridge Hill Cairn - Lion's Den - Stepback - Higher Wenshead - Home. Fine, cool, blustery - out two hours. Amongst other stuff :-

Skylark (2)
Red Grouse (c.6)
Curlew (5)
Lapwing (11)

Walk around Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir last night, 17.45 to 18.30 :-

Goosander (2)
Mallard (5)
Woodcock (1)
Tawny Owl (1)

Darwen Moors this morning 9.30 to 11.00, damp and misty :-

Skylark (1)
Red Grouse (1)
Lapwing (9)
Lesser Redpoll (2)
Canada Goose (2) (Res)

A couple of Raven this morning above Stepback Wood, nothing much else about on the tops.

Around 75 Waxwing on the corner of Westminster Road and Lyndhurst Road adjacent to Avondale playing fields in Darwen. Flighty and they had gone when I went for a second look around midday.

Home - Top Aggie's Staircase - Lords Hall - Fingerpost - Conyries Plantation - Cartridge Hill - Top Aggie's Staircase - Home. Fine & Cool. Out 3 hours.

Raven (3) single and a pair, Red Grouse (11) various areas, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and not a lot else.

Merry Christmas one and all!

Walk round Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir and then down to Earnsdale Reservoir. No sign of yesterday's Hen Harrier. Sod's Law prevailed, as expected!

Little Owl (1), Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Reed Bunting (25+), Bullfinch, Goldfinch, LBB Gull, Herring Gull, amongst other stuff.

Long walk over moors this morning. Cloudy, cool and blustery.

Sunnyhurst - Top Aggie's Staircase - Lords Hall - Fingerpost - Conyries Plantation - Cartridge Hill - Above Stepback - Sunnyhurst.

Not a great deal about but good numbers of Red Grouse. Amongst other stuff :-

Redwing
Mistle Thrush
Jackdaw
Meadow Pipit
Raven (1)
Red Grouse (16)

There were 11 Red Grouse together on the eastern side of Cartridge Hill.

Yesterday morning, another sighting of Woodcock with half decent flight views in the murk. Most probably the same bird(s) around the Water Board plantation adjacent to Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir.

Walk over back of moors today to the north east area of Cartridge Hill. Fairly quiet other than 3 or 4 Red Grouse, half a dozen Reed Bunting at Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir and 4 Raven above Sunnyhurst. Told of 2 Golden Plover seen on nearby Great Hill.

Mark Jarrett wrote:

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Water Board plantation.

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Is this code for a new George Bush torture location!?

Six Red Grouse this morning with a male Peregrine in the Lions Den area, which is just south of Stepback. Otherwise quiet.

Several winter thrush flocks through last couple of days, all south, mainly Redwing.

Short eared Owl this morning (in the murk) en route to Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir.

Whooper Swans had moved on by Wednesday tea time.

-- Edited by Mark Jarrett on Friday 22nd of October 2010 02:22:44 PM

Osprey through south west 18.00 hrs, high above Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir.

Yellow Wagtail (2) and Wheatear (2) in field to west of Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir this evening.

Talked to the owners of the Eagle Owl this dinner time - they failed to net it yesterday and it is still at large!

Nothing much happening over the last few days. A dozen or so Meadow Pipit moved through west this morning (I know,nothing really to write home about!), 3 Lapwing at Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir with a few Canada Goose and Mallard. Plenty of Swallows building up around the res and on the tops. News of a Spotted Flycatcher just east of Earnsdale Reservoir.

A dusk walk over the moors tonight yielded a Kestrel, 3 Red Grouse (5 yesterday) and nothing much more other than a few Meadow Pipit. An extremely distant B of P went unidentified. Long wings, lazy wing beat, possibly a Shortie, heading west with Winter Hill mast in my bins, so you Manchester lads could have got it! 4 Bats at 900 ft, species unidentified.

But what a view tonight.....as the sun dipped below the horizon at 8.15 ish, clockwise from the south west - Snowdonia, Southport, Ribble Estuary, Blackpool, Isle of Man, Lakes, Howgills, Bowland Fells, Three Peaks in Yorkshire & Pendle. Superb!

Been fairly quiet over the last few weeks. Red Grouse being seen in two's three's and four's with a few Meadow Pipit and Skylark here and there. Linnets have dispersed now but there have still been several Lesser Redpoll around. Water levels dropped on Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir and have left attractive (you would think) muddy areas to no avail - only waders seen being the odd couple of Common Sandpiper and a post breeding flock of Lapwing numbering up to 45 birds. These alternate between this reservoir and Earnsdale Reservoir where again waders have been non existant. An adult male Sparrowhawk put in an appearance at Sunnyhurst Hey and a Stock Dove was noted in fields above Sniddle Hill Farm. Around 60 Swift moved through south a couple of weeks ago and in the last few days Swallow, and to a lesser degree House Martin, numbers have built up up nicely. Thirty odd Mistle Thrush have been seen with a good number of Starling in the fields below Higher Wenshead Farm. Yesterday, a single Wheatear was seen opposite the small quarry up from Sunnyhurst and tonight another three west of Sunnyhurst Hey. Best of all, a juvenile Peregrine was seen tonight flying very low adjacent to the reservoir.